To you, who I will meet someday
by Stelra Etnae
Summary: Kenjirou had been drawing on his arms even before he found out about the existence of soulmates. Yuri loved staring at the bright colours that would appear on his skin, even before he was old enough to know what they meant. It didn't matter that they were separated by distance and language. They already loved. (Soulmate AU where paint or writing also appears on their soulmate)
1. Chapter 1

_**They haven't even officially met in canon (yet), but somehow this pairing has wormed its way into my top Yuri on Ice ships, second only to Victuuri. I've also wanted to write a Soulmate AU for the longest time, and when this plot bunny arrived, I just had to write it. Hope you enjoy what I've written so far!**_  
 _ **(I swear as I work through the plot of this story, there's legit nothing but fluff. Can be read as either romantic and platonic.)**_

* * *

Kenjirou had been drawing on his arms even before he found out about the existence of soulmates, delighting in covering his skin with multi-coloured squiggles and splotches of paint. When he started kindergarten at age 3, he found out that some of his friends would get patches of colour on their hands that they hadn't put there themselves or drawings on their arms, and for some there were written words that they would ask their teacher to read out to them. There was even one pair whose colours would appear on each other, and they would spend the day scribbling away, putting bright pictures on each other by drawing on their own skin.

When he asked his mother about it that night, she smiled and sat him on her lap. Those were soulmate marks, she told him. Soulmates, she said, have a very special bond. No one really knew how, but any kind of colour or ink on a person's skin would also appear on their soulmate's body, on the very same spot. It was a way for soulmates to find each other. A special message to remind them that they weren't alone, even before they meet. Soulmates completed each other, were destined to love each other very, very much.

"Like Tou-chan and Kaa-chan?"

His mother kissed him on the forehead. "Just like Tou-chan and Kaa-chan."

Kenjirou stared at his clean hands, and asked his mother why his soulmate hadn't given him any colour before. All the paint that he had gotten on his hands had always been just his own.

"They might not be born yet, or still be too little," his mother explained as she took his small hands in hers. There were words written on the back of her hand in black ink, decorated with a little heart. "Sometimes soulmates are not the same age, and one has to wait for a little bit. Your Tou-chan and I were like that – I was getting messages right from the moment I was born and only got to reply when I was bigger. Your Obaa-chan said that I was always so happy whenever the colours appeared, and I would stare at them all day. So I'm sure your soulmate is really happy when you send them pictures, Ken-chan, even though they can't reply yet."

And so he continued to draw on both of his arms, in the brightest colours he could find. He left the colours on as long as he could, smiling whenever he caught sight of them, hoping that his soulmate was just as happy seeing them as his mother said they would be.

* * *

He got his first reply when he was four, a bold patch of bright orange all over his right hand, as if he had dipped the whole thing in a pot of paint. At first he had stared at it in confusion, wondering how he had gotten the colour over his hand when he had just taken a bath less than an hour ago and hadn't touched any paints since then. When he rubbed at it and no residue came off, the way watercolours and crayons usually did, it hit him like a thunderbolt.

His soulmate! His soulmate had finally sent him something!

With a loud gasp, he dashed into his playroom to pull out his stash of multi-coloured pens. He grabbed the first one from the top, a felt marker in neon blue, and with great concentration to produce his neatest handwriting wrote out 'Hi I'm Kenjirou!' in lopsided hiragana.

The responding message came just a few seconds later, in blobs of finger-painted yellow. He waited for a little longer, but still no words came, just more dots in different colours. He cocked his head, staring at the increasing number of uneven colourful blobs and smears all over his arms. They were pretty, but didn't mean anything. It looked like his mum had been right, and his soulmate really was still little. They probably didn't know how to read and write yet.

Still, he'd finally gotten a reply! From his soulmate!

Grinning brightly, Kenjirou decided he could wait another few more years for his soulmate to grow up, and started doodling little smiley faces on the rainbow-coloured dots as they appeared.

* * *

When Kenjirou was six he got his first written message from his soulmate, but they weren't any type of letter that he had seen before. They'd appeared on his arm sometime during the night, and he found the words as he changed for school.

A couple of them looked like the English letters his teacher had been teaching them in class though, so he went up to his teacher and showed her the words.

Fumino-sensei studied the words on his arm with interest. "Oh my, that looks like Russian."

"Russian?" he parroted, unfamiliar with the term.

"It's the language spoken in a place called Russia, a big country to the West where it snows a lot."

"Like Hokkaido?" He'd been there with his parents before, and played in the snow. There was rarely much snow in Fukuoka, but there had been lots of it in Hokkaido. It'd been cold, but very pretty. Was Russia also cold and pretty?

His teacher hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, a little like Hokkaido, but further away."

"Ehh…" Kenjirou pouted. "So my soulmate is far away? How will I find them then?"

Fumino-sensei tapped him on the nose. "No matter how far away they are now, I'm sure you'll be able to meet someday. You have your soul marks to help you, don't you?"

"Right!" Encouraged again, Kenjirou stared at the strange words in his arm. The language of a big snowy country far away. "But what does it _say_ , sensei?"

To his disappointment, Fumino-sensei couldn't read Russian and neither could any of the teachers in Kenjirou's school. But she helped him copy the words onto a piece of paper so that they could look them up in a dictionary later, and taught him how to write a self-introduction in English.

"Because it's unlikely that they will know how to read Japanese, but your soulmate's parents might be able to read English," she explained.

So he carefully copied out each letter as clearly as he could onto his arm next to his soulmate's words, and impatiently waited for a reply.

A few hours later, a new set of words appeared under the original, but this time they were in English letters just like the one he had written. In a scramble he dug out the English alphabet chart from his bag, scattering the rest of his worksheets everywhere. He ignored the mess, completely focused on deciphering the words.

The first part of the message was easy enough, being an exact mirror of his. It was the last word he was interested in. That had to be his soulmate's name, right!? So that was a Y, and a U… R…

"Yuri," Kenjirou read out loud. He stared at the word for a long time. "Yuri," he repeated. A huge smile burst across his face as it finally sank in, and he leapt to his feet to dart out of his room in a sprint.

"Tou-chan, Kaa-chan, it's Yuri! My soulmate's name is Yuri!"

* * *

 _HELLO, I'M KENJIRO_

 _HELLO, I'M YURI_

* * *

 ** _I would really love to know what you think of it, so do leave a review!_**

 ** _PS - Extra brownie points for anyone who caught which manga cameo I added into this chapter._**


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Kenjirou was 12, he knew that his soulmate's full name was Yuri Plisetsky (he'd had a bit of trouble pronouncing it at first, but was determined to master it by the time they met in person), and was a boy two years younger than him who lived with his grandfather in Moscow. His favourite food was pirozhki, and he would tell Kenjirou that his grandfather made the best pirozhki in the world.

Kenjirou told him about his parents and older brother, about how even though his brother liked to tease him about it, they all couldn't wait to meet Yuri. He wanted to show Yuri around Fukuoka, wanted to let him try his favourite motsunabe and all the different kinds of Japanese food.

They both wrote in English as it was the only common language that they were both learning in school. Kenjirou, however, was secretly practicing his Russian to surprise Yuri one day. Neither of them had the money to deliberately fly out to each other's countries to meet, but it wasn't long after they discovered their shared passion for figure skating that they came up with the perfect solution.

They would meet one day on the international stage of figure skating, at a competition where they would both compete for the gold. It didn't matter that they would be rivals, because they would be doing the one thing that they both loved to equal measure.

When Kenjirou made the age qualification for his first junior season, he peppered his messages with little anecdotes of the season, about how he was training hard for his junior debut routine and how he was so excited about meeting so many fellow skaters who he had only seen on the television before.

(And if he had maybe gushed a little too much about finally getting the chance to see his idol Katsuki Yuuri skate his exhibition program in person at the Japanese Nationals gala exhibition, well… He'd just been really happy about it, okay!)

In return Yuri talked about how he was diligently practicing his jumps and step sequence, how he had recently gotten a new coach and was now training at the same rink as Victor Nikiforov. It was still another a year before Yuri would meet the age requirement to compete in international junior competitions, but it was clear he had no intention of being left behind.

Both of them were giving it their all, to fulfil their promise of meeting on the ice.

* * *

"So the ice fairy knows how to smile after all."

Yuri stiffened, tugging down the sleeve of his jacket as he turned to glare at the speaker. "Go away, Mila."

The older Russian girl put up her hands, pouting. "Aww, but you were looking so cute, Yurochka."

"Don't call me that, hag," Yuri shot back as he took off his skate guards to return to the ice. Mila followed him, lazily skating backwards, amused rather than put off by his attitude.

"There's nothing wrong about smiling more often, you know. I smile when I get messages from my soulmate too." Despite himself, Yuri glanced over at the older girl. There was a cluster of hand-drawn pink hearts on her collarbone, peeking out from under the wide collar of her top. The words ' _ti amo_ ' were written prettily in cursive writing over them.

Jerking when he caught the teasing twinkle in Mila's eye, he quickly skated away to practice his routine for the upcoming Russian junior championship. Mila thankfully left him alone, choosing another part of the rink to practice her spins.

But that night, he impulsively drew a small heart shape on the back of his hand and the next morning found it cheerfully coloured in with bright red.

He left it uncovered during practice and well, he could live with Mila's annoyingly knowing smiles for one day. A dark glare was enough to keep all the others at bay.

He nailed all his jumps that day.

* * *

"A q-quad!?" Kenjirou's jaw dropped as he read the latest message from Yuri. "And he _landed_ it?" Kenjirou himself was still working on practicing his first quad jumps, with mixed results. And by that he meant that he landed on his ass 9 out of 10 times. For Yuri to actually have executed and landed a quadruple Salchow, in competition no less, was nothing short of phenomenal for his age.

But it seemed that Yuri had gotten a scolding from his coach for it, if the younger boy's belligerent scribbles were anything to go by.

Kenjirou laughed to himself. He'd seen shots of the Russian coach Yakov while watching the senior competitions and had thought that the man had looked gruff and rather frightening, so different from his own coach Kanako-sensei. But Yuri certainly didn't seem intimidated by him, and Kenjirou could tell that there was a certain fondness underlying Yuri's ranting. Kenjirou was sure that behind his fierce-looking demeanour, Yakov really was a nice person and had Yuri's best interests in mind.

The last part of the message was what really stood out, however.

' _Victor said he'll choreograph my senior debut program if I win the Junior World Championship without any quads'_

Even though this was just a written message on his arm, written in black ink just like everything else; even though he couldn't see Yuri's expression or hear his tone of voice, Kenjirou could tell how much this had meant to the younger boy. It was evident in the slight shake in Yuri's neat angular handwriting, as if he had barely been able to contain his excitement. And because Kenjirou knew Yuri. The way Yuri looked up to Victor, it was just like the admiration Kenjirou himself had towards his country's own top skater Yuuri.

Still, already thinking about his senior debut before even starting juniors… Yuri was serious as always.

Smiling, he picked up his favourite water-based marker and wrote in big bold letters.

' _I know you can do it!'_

* * *

When the 2013-14 figure skating finally approached, along with news that the Junior Grand Prix Final would be held right in his hometown of Fukuoka, Kenjirou almost deafened the whole rink with his yell of delight.

"What's up with you this time, kid?" one of the seniors laughed, ruffling his hair as he skated past. The older skaters watched him indulgently, already used to his exuberance.

"I'm gonna get to show Yuri around Fukuoka!" Kenjirou cheered, bouncing and twirling around the rink.

"Isn't it a little early to say if he'll get into the Final? He's just making his junior debut, after all."

Whirling to a stop, Kenjirou crossed his arms stubbornly. "Yuri's amazing! He'll definitely get into the Final! And I'm going to work hard to make sure I get in too! Kanako-sensei, I'm going for another round of practice!"

The months that followed seemed to both drag on forever, but Kenjirou filled his days perfecting his routine and his nights dreaming. At long last the day of the first qualifying competition of the 2013 Junior Grand Prix finally arrived, with Yuri as one of the competitors. He and Yuri hadn't been assigned to any of the same qualifying event, so it was now even more important that they both qualify for the Final. Kenjirou watched the livestream of the Riga Cup with his friends at the rink, dashing ahead of all of them to snag the closest spot when the broadcast started.

"Ah, it's Emil!" Kenjirou grinned in recognition as the first skater took his starting place on the ice. He had met the friendly Czech skater during last year's season, and they had gotten along well. It'd be great if they could meet this year in the Final as well. He wanted to introduce Yuri to everyone!

Kenjirou didn't need the name in English letters printed across the bottom of the screen to tell him who the fifth skater who just had entered the rink was. They'd exchanged photos over the internet across the years, and the flash of golden blond hair was instantly familiar.

"It's Yuri's turn!" he yelled, drowning out the announcer's introduction. His shout attracted the attention of a few of the senior skaters who hadn't originally been watching the junior event.

"Ohh, so this is the genius Russian skater Minami-kun has been going on about?" His rinkmates all leaned in closer to watch, clustering around Kenjirou's quivering form. He was so excited!

Yuri's short program outfit was black with clusters of golden sparkles like stars at midnight across the front of his high-necked shirt and down the sides of his trousers, accentuated by a simple wine red sash tied around his hips. His golden hair shone under the bright lights of the stadium, in sharp contrast to the dark colour of his costume. He raised his arms into his starting position.

Then as the first few notes of orchestral music blared out, dark and dramatic, Yuri began to skate.

Yuri was even more beautiful on ice than Kenjirou could have imagined, dancing across the ice with the power of a raging river, yet at the same time so light on his feet that it seemed as if he was floating. Because of the deal he had made with Victor, he kept his jumps confined to doubles and triples, but it was already clear that he was miles ahead of the rest of the juniors. Kenjirou got some playful teasing from his rinkmates about the besotted expression he had worn the whole way through the short program, but even with their teasing, he could tell that they were impressed.

He heard a whistle as Yuri's short program score was announced, placing him in first place right from the start.

"That kid is really something else."

Kenjirou's grin threatened to split his face. Fishing a marker out of his bag, he pushed up his left sleeve to scribble a quick message before re-entering the rink for another practice session.

He pumped his fists in the air. "Yuri's amazing, I've got to up my game as well!"

* * *

When Yuri changed out of his short program outfit to find the words _'you were so beautiful, Yuri!'_ scrawled over his arm with little hearts at the end, his face almost caught fire.

Yakov eyed him oddly as he stalked past out of the changing room, cheeks still tinted red.

The words had changed by the time he changed into his free skate costume the next morning.

' _Good luck with your FS, Yuri!_ _Давай!'_

He allowed himself a little time to trace his fingers over the letters before heading out, a warm feeling filling his chest.

Needless to say, he snagged his first Junior Grand Prix series gold at the Riga Cup with ease, followed by another gold medal at the Baltic Cup, securing himself a sure place in the JGP Final.

* * *

"Welcome back to the live broadcast of the 2013-14 ISU Junior Grand Prix. Following the completion of the seventh JGP event the Tallinn Cup, the scores have been tallied and the qualifying finalists for the Junior Grand Prix Final men's singles have been confirmed as follows:

Making his outstanding junior debut by placing first at both the Riga Cup and the Baltic Cup, **Russia's Yuri Plisetsky**.

Also winning two golds at the Mexico Cup and Czech Skate, **Kazakhstan's Otabek Altin**.

Taking home the gold at Kosice and Tallinn, **America's Leo de la Iglesia**.

Bagging first place at Minsk and second at the Mexico Cup, **Japan's Kenjiro Minami**.

Winning silver at the Riga Cup and again on his home turf at Czech Skate, **Czech Republic's Emil Nekola**.

Placing second at the Baltic Cup and the Tallinn Cup, **China's Guang-Hong Ji**.

Both the junior and senior Grand Prix Final for the 2013-14 season will be held in Fukuoka, Japan on the 5th-8th of December."

* * *

 _ **You know what this means – more character cameos coming next chapter! And our cinnamon rolls are finally going to meet in person.**_

 _ **Do note that the above list only shows the qualifying rankings, and doesn't necessarily reflect their actual standing in relation to each other.**_

 _ **The description of Yuri's short program outfit and music/program was written with loose reference to Yulia Lipnitskaya (the skater Yuri is supposedly based off)'s 2011 Junior Grand Prix short program (though of course in my mind I modified the outfit into a male version)**_

 _ **As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Kenjirou was a bundle of nerves as he waited at Fukuoka Airport for Yakov's team to arrive. He had gotten a quick scribbled message from Yuri about twenty minutes ago, saying that they had disembarked from the plane and were currently heading towards the immigration check. He couldn't help but pull up his sleeve to look at the words every minute or so, even though he knew it was unlikely that Yuri would write anything more. It just still felt…surreal, that they were for the first time so close together. That any moment now, they would finally meet in person, as they had wanted for so many years.

A crowd of fans had also gathered around the exit, buzzing excitedly. As expected, most of them held placards reading 'Victor Nikiforov', decorated with hearts and photos of the senior Russian skater. Yet there were even a few holding signs that read 'Yuri Plisetsky' as well, showing how popular the junior skater had become over just the past two Grand Prix series competitions. The world was finding out just how awesome Yuri was, but well… He grinned to himself, brushing his fingers over Yuri's handwriting on his arm. Kenjirou had known it first.

The sudden eruption of high-pitched screams was more than enough to alert him of the Russian team's entrance, his gaze snapping upwards. Heart thudding in his chest, he bounced on the tips of his toes, trying to look over the shoulders of the taller girls crowding in front of him. It wasn't a very successful endeavour, but at long last he caught sight of familiar blond hair in a chance break in the crowd, the younger boy turning his head here and there in search for him. Kenjirou sucked in a deep breath.

"YURI! OVER HERE!"

Teal green eyes widened at the young skater swivelled instantly in his direction and broke out into a run, abandoning his bags to squeeze through the crowd to reach him. A few curious eyes followed him as he emerged on the other side where Kenjirou was waiting, but thankfully most of the crowd's attention was caught by Victor.

"YURI!"

"KEN!"

Kenjirou just managed to avoid toppling over as the other boy tackled him, swinging them around with the momentum. He didn't even notice the tears until they began to obscure his vision, and they were laughing and crying together as he hugged Yuri back just as tightly. They were about the same height, he realized as he buried his face in the crook of the younger boy's neck. To finally be able to hold Yuri like this… he felt that he never wanted to let go.

Something from before nagged at his mind though. "'Ken'?" he couldn't help but question.

Kenjirou saw the exact moment Yuri's face erupted in flames when the younger skater realized what he had uttered.

"It – It's silly, from when I was younger, and – …it's nothing, I won't-" Yuri stammered out with an obvious state of confusion, face beet red. Kenjirou cut off his disjointed ramblings with a hand over his mouth, Yuri's words trailing off in a confused mumble as his green eyes snapped up to meet Kenjirou's.

He grinned brightly once he had Yuri's attention again, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "No, I really like it! It's nice, like a special nickname. You know, maybe I should think of a nickname for Yuri too-"

Yuri muttered something against his palm. The younger boy's hand came up to pull Kenjirou's away, but didn't let go afterwards.

"Yura. You can call me Yura," he repeated, face still red and eyes averted.

"Yura," Kenjirou tried it on his tongue and liked it. His smile softened as they finally calmed down to properly look at each other. "I'm so happy that you're finally here, Yura."

Yuri's cheeks pinked again, the colour coming easily to his face with his pale complexion. "…Me too."

It took a third voice interrupting for them to remember that they were hardly alone in this very public space. "So this is the mysterious soulmate, huh?"

At the familiar voice Yuri jerked, only then realizing that he and Kenjirou were still tangled together in a hug. He stepped back reluctantly. "What do you want, Mila?"

The area had quietened down considerably, most of the crowd having followed the Russian team towards the exit. Kenjirou recognized the tall red-haired girl who was approaching them as being the Russian skater who had made waves that year by placing as a finalist on her senior debut. In that respect, she was very similar to Yuri, really. Her name was familiar too, Kenjirou realizing with some amusement that this was likely the same girl who Yuri often complained at length about when he was in a particularly belligerent mood. Catching his look, the older girl smiled kindly at him before turning a mock reprimanding look on Yuri.

"What, aren't you going to introduce me first?"

"No," Yuri shot back in a slightly grumpy tone that Kenjirou was fast learning to associate with embarrassment rather than any kind of real dislike.

Mila pouted. "So cold, Yurochka."

"I told you not to call me that."

He might as well have said nothing, for all that the older girl paid attention to it. Mila turned with a wide smile to Kenjirou. "Hi there, I'm Mila Babicheva, one of Yuri's rinkmates."

Happy to meet one of Yuri's friends, Kenjirou smiled in return and shook her offered hand. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Kenjiro Minami."

Mila's eyes twinkled. "Why, aren't you sweet. Make sure you take good care of our Yurochka, now."

"MILA!" Yuri looked ready to spit fire, but Mila just looked amused.

"Anyway, Yuri, Coach Yakov sent me to tell you that you're alright to leave. Just be at the rink on time tomorrow for practice. You've already got your overnight bag there, haven't you? Don't worry about the rest of your luggage, we'll deal with it for you, you're welcome." At Yuri's taken-aback expression, she grinned. "Well, have fun~"

With that parting line and a jaunty wave, she disappeared back through the crowd to head to the exit where the Russian team was waiting.

Kenjirou smiled as he waved back for the both of them. "She's nice."

Yuri grumbled half-heartedly under his breath, more for the sake of habit than anything else. He appreciated Mila, he really did, but the way she loved to tease him made it hard for him to do so with any kind of grace.

"Yura." Blinking, he found Kenjirou's hand held out in front of him. His soulmate was beaming at him, eyes warm. "Come on, let's go."

With a smile like that, how could anyone say no? Yuri took his hand and let the older boy pull him out the airport.

* * *

Kenjirou's family all spoke English fluently, his parents greeting Yuri warmly as he entered their home. They had motsunabe for dinner, and it was just as delicious as Kenjirou had promised. He happily polished off everything that was set in front of him, even accepting Kenjirou's mother's offer of a second bowl of rice.

Kenjirou's brother smirked at them as he refilled his own bowl. "This brat cleaned up his room just because you were coming, you know. The place is usually a trash dump."

"Nii-san!" Kenjirou yelped, almost jumping across the table to stop his brother from embarrassing him further.

Yuri found himself naturally laughing along with Kenjirou's family as the boy pouted.

They set up an extra foldable bed in Kenjirou's room, pushing it so that it laid side by side with his bed. Kenjirou's mother comes in with extra blankets and they pile it up on the beds like a fluffy mountain even though it was probably more than 10 degrees warmer in Fukuoka than what he was used to in Moscow. They take turns showering, the hot water washing away the water-based marker he had used to write with earlier, but as he dries off his hair Yuri finds that Kenjirou has drawn a goofy smiley face over the back of their hands. They both burst out in giggles when Kenjirou catches his eye, and when he fishes out a marker from his bag as well it somehow turns into a childish doodling contest.

Kenjirou's brother pokes his head halfway through, rolling his eyes good-naturedly when he finds them in hysterics and calling out something teasing in Japanese that had Kenjirou sticking his tongue out.

They run out of space to draw eventually, and they huddle side by side playing video games on Kenjirou's Nintendo DS until Yuri yawned widely, jetlag finally catching up to him as the adrenaline from the day wore off.

Laughing, Kenjirou hopped off the bed to turn off the light, before diving back under the covers and tucking himself in tight. Impulsively, he reached out to lace their hands together, marvelling at how the pictures doodled across the backs matched exactly, faintly illuminated as they were by the city lights shining in through the window. He tightened his fingers, feeling Yuri squeeze back.

"Good night, Yura."

"Good night, Ken."


	4. Chapter 4

Kenjirou was one of those people who made friends as easily as breathing, Yuri realized as they arrived at the stadium for the pre-Final practice session. It wasn't just the fact that the older boy had been in the field for longer; Kenjirou's inherently sunny personality made him instantly likeable, even at first meeting. Yuri had never really made any effort to talk to his fellow competitors, but Kenjirou greeted everyone that they passed with a cheerful smile.

Even at his home rink, Yuri rarely talked to anyone – his talent and drive had long set him apart from his peers, to their admiration and envy; his youth made it difficult to integrate with the older rinkmates he often trained with, some who envied him as well. It was only Mila who constantly bugged him with her persistent presence no matter how much he treated her with the same prickly attitude that he did everyone else. Getting along with people his age (or really, people in general) had simply never been one of his strong points, a situation which had never bothered him particularly before.

Yet when he emerged from the changing room to see Kenjirou chatting happily to a pair of fellow finalists, he felt… it was a feeling he didn't really like to name, a brief swooping sensation in his stomach that made him reluctant to approach. His body took an unconscious step backwards, as if contemplating hiding back in the changing room, and he checked the motion with an inward curse.

Kenjirou looked up as his body froze in that moment of hesitation, and waved him over with a sunny smile that as usual made him unable to resist.

"Have you met Guang-Hong and Leo, Yura? Guys, this is Yuri!"

"Oh, we met briefly at the Baltic Cup," the shorter of the two contributed in a soft voice and a slightly nervous smile.

Guang-Hong Ji – Yuri remembered him as the one who had taken the silver medal after him at the Baltic Cup. His jumps weren't fully stable, but he was good at drawing the audience into the feelings of the music and routine. He hadn't shared any qualifying events with the other skater, but he had watched a few videos of Leo de Iglesia (Yakov had forced him to watch recordings of all the finalists as part of his preparation). The American skater delivered energetic, attention-catching routines that scored high on performance but had limited technical elements. He knew all these things about their skating, yet drew a blank how to respond to the tentative greetings sent his way. He settled for a slightly awkward nod.

He was thankfully saved from continuing the conversation when their attention was drawn away by the exuberant entrance of another skater, bursting in with all the energy of a human hurricane.

"Kenjiro! Guang-Hong! Leo!"

"Emil!" Kenjirou turned to greet the newcomer just as cheerfully. "It's good to see you again!"

"Congrats on getting to the Finals, everyone!" The Czech skater beamed good-naturedly at all of them before his eyes lit on Yuri and brightened with interest. He extended his hand, pumping Yuri's energetically up and down when he took it. "Yuri, right? We didn't really get to talk back there at Riga. I'm Emil!"

Yuri couldn't really do much more than blink at the older teen's enthusiasm. "Ah… yeah."

Turning back to include the others, Emil winked teasingly. "And hey, I may have placed second back there, but I've been refining my routines these past months, you know. Here's a warning you guys, I'll be taking the gold this time!"

Leo grinned, fired up by the other skater's playful challenge. "You say that, but the rest of us have hardly been slacking off either! You're going to have to fight for it. Right, Guang-Hong?"

"I – I'm going to make a new personal best in the short program tomorrow!"

"That's the spirit!"

"Get ready to see the brand-new Kenjiro Minami!"

"What, like that new tuft of tomato-sauce red in your hair?"

"Hey, insults on the hair are off limits!"

"I like it, Kenjiro."

Yuri fidgeted as they continued to trade light-hearted teasing comments, feeling out of his depth among the bright chatter of this group. He had never been good at small talk, didn't quite understand the point, much less how to engage in it. As time went by his fingers clenched uncomfortably around the hem of his jacket, and he forced himself to loosen the grip.

"I'm going to go warm up," he finally muttered, turning to disengage from the group. No one would notice him leaving, right?

A warm hand caught his before he could fully step away. Kenjirou's warm chocolate brown eyes met his with a smile, the older boy easily falling in step with him. "I'll go too."

Yuri let the older boy lead the way to a quieter section of the hallway, away from the bustling of the staff and other skaters. They passed by a tall dark-haired teen who Yuri recognized as being one of the other finalists but had never spoke to. Otabek Altin, clean technique but didn't stand out much in performance. Kenjiro gave him a small wave and a greeting as with everyone else, receiving a polite nod in return, but this time made no effort to stop and chat. The loud chatter of the others skaters had faded away in the distance.

"…You should go talk to your friends," Yuri spoke up finally, but his hand traitorously refused to let go of the warm hand tangled with his.

Instead of loosening his grip, Kenjirou laced their fingers more closely together. "But I want to spend time with you more, Yura." He smiled as Yuri finally looked back up into his gentle eyes. "Come on, let's get started warming up."

* * *

Kenjirou's short program music was queued to go on first. He took in a deep breath as the other skaters left the centre of the ice clear for him to start, picking further areas of the rink to practice their components in the meantime. The skater whose music was playing had the right of way on the ice during the practice session, after all, and they had to be prepared to give him any additional space as needed.

He positioned himself as the music started to play, running through his routine and familiarizing himself with the new rink. He took a fall from over-rotating his first triple axel, but picked himself back up determinedly to continue his routine. His selected short program music was an upbeat jazz piece that he and Kanako-sensei agreed to be the style that suited him best, and he let the music flow through him as he moved into the step sequence, pouring his energy into it.

He met Yuri's eyes across the rink as the music wound to a close, and the younger boy smiled faintly and gave a small wave of encouragement.

"Nice work, Kenjiro!" Emil called as he passed to take his place at the centre of the rink, the Czech skater's short program music starting up.

Bringing his breathing back under control, Kenjirou gave a grinning thumbs-up in return. After a quick check-in with Kanako-sensei, he moved towards a clear portion of the rink to practice the moves he had missed previously, mentally reviewing the points that he still needed to improve on before tomorrow's performance.

From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Yuri landing a beautifully clean triple Salchow.

Determination bolstered, he took in a steadying breath and went for a triple axel again. Success! Perhaps it still wasn't the cleanest landing, but he stayed on his feet this time, transitioning smoothly to the following step sequence. He barely noticed as the music changed to Guang-Hong's then to Otabek's, focused on practicing his moves as he was.

A sudden buzz among the other junior finalists caught his attention however as he skated past in a spread eagle.

"It's Victor!" Guang-Hong murmured with barely contained excitement to Leo, eyes huge as he stared across the ice. Kenjirou's gaze flicked towards the same direction.

Sure enough, Victor Nikiforov stood at the edge of the rink, leaning casually against the boards.

A familiar blond skated by near where the taller man stood, throwing a comment as he passed. Victor laughed and said something in return that had Yuri bristling, braking abruptly and stalking back towards the older skater. They may have continued their not-completely-amiable exchange for longer if not for Yakov descending on them with a thunderous expression, sending Yuri back onto the ice as his music started up and Victor towards the bleachers to wait until the senior divisions' practice time.

"Ah, I wonder if I can ask Yuri for Victor's autograph…" Guang-Hong mused wistfully.

Leo made a noncommittal sound at that. "I dunno, he kinda gives off the feel that he can't be bothered with this kind of stuff, doesn't he?"

"I – I'm sure he's a very nice person!"

Was that the feeling Yuri gave off to the others? Kenjirou frowned slightly as he moved into a spiral, unable to resist sneaking glances that where Yuri continued to throw daggers with his eyes in response to Victor's teasing smile.

Later on, he falls again, this time from an attempted triple Salchow.

The ice is cold under his hand, and it feels even colder without Yuri's hand held in it.

* * *

They ran into Leo and Guang-Hong again as they exit the stadium, finding the brown-haired pair pouring over a tourist map with identical perplexed frowns.

Guang-Hong smiled brightly when he caught sight of him and Yuri. "Kenjiro, you live in Fukuoka, right? Know any good places to eat?"

Kenjirou found his mood lifting again, always keen on introducing his beloved hometown to his friends. "How about ramen? I know a great place for tonkotsu ramen just a few streets down from here, you've got to try it."

As if summoned by the words, Emil appeared over their shoulders with gleaming eyes. "Did I hear ramen? Can I tag along?" His eyes lit on the last member of their little group as the dark-haired teen walked by. He waved, catching the other skater's attention. "Otabek! We're going out for ramen, come join us!"

The quiet skater paused. "Okay."

They all end up at Fukuoka Tower after lunch, the panoramic view of the city from the height. They wander off separately across the observation deck, agreeing to meet back at the exit after half an hour to return to the hotel together.

Yuri and Kenjirou end up staring out at the glimmering blue of the sea extending out beyond Hakata Bay. They stood side by side, not quite touching, a quiet bubble among the dull buzz of conversation from the other tourists visiting the tower. It was calming, but Yuri couldn't quite throw off a faint feeling of unease as his thoughts plagued him. Was he being selfish, keeping Kenjirou to himself like this? Did he want to be with the others? _Wouldn't_ he rather be with the others?

Caught up in his worries, he missed Kenjirou watching him through his reflection on the glass with a pensive expression. The older boy's fingers tightened around the safety railing.

"Yura, is it… is it tiresome having me hanging around you all the time?"

Yuri's gaze jerked up to stare at the older boy, taken aback by the sudden question and even more by its nature. Unfortunately, Kenjirou seemed to take his silence as confirmation.

"It just feels like you've been distant today, somehow." Kenjirou bit his lower lip. "As expected, you're really amazing, Yura. You're just so far ahead of me. I…I can't even land any kind of quad jump yet, and I flub my triple axel half the time, it's embarrassing… You probably want to go hang out with the older skaters, but I keep dragging you out everywhere without asking you, so I – I understand if you-"

"No!" Yuri yelled that out louder than he had intended, but it had the effect of making Kenjirou's eyes snap back up to meet his, falling silent in open-mouthed surprise.

"That's not the reason! That's not… I…" Yuri fumbled for words, hating his own clumsiness. "I'm not good with people," he finally blurted out.

Comprehension slowly relit Kenjirou's eyes. "Oh," Kenjirou murmured. Which didn't quite tell Yuri anything, but now that he'd managed to start talking, he realized that wasn't anywhere done yet.

"And don't give me crap about being a bad skater. I think you're an amazing skater. No, listen to me. Maybe you can't land all your jumps yet, but that's not all that matters when it comes to figure skating. You're really good at your step sequences, and most importantly, I can always feel your emotions when you skate." Yuri could feel his cheeks heating up as he spoke, but he was determined to make sure that Kenjirou knew how he really felt. "I always love watching you on the ice. No matter how far I am, even if I'm watching through a screen, I can always tell how happy you are to be skating. Expressing my emotions like that, I can't do it like you can so easily, whether on the ice or off it. You're the one who's amazing."

Silence fell back as he finished this impulsively impassioned rant, Yuri very resolutely not looking at the other boy, sure that his face was now as red as Kenjirou's hair. The quiet continued for one, two, three beats, before it was broken by a wet laugh. Yuri's eyes shot back up.

"I was being silly, wasn't I?" Kenjirou chuckled weakly, rubbing his sleeve across his eyes. It failed to catch all the tears that fell, and Yuri watched a stray droplet roll down Kenjirou's cheek. "I think it's because I'm just, really nervous for tomorrow. Especially since it's my first time skating in person in front of Yura."

Yuri caught Kenjirou's hand before it fell, holding it tightly like the older boy had done for him before. "I was afraid too, that you'd rather spend time with your other friends," he admitted quietly. "If anyone, it was me being silly."

Kenjirou shook his head, smile bright through his drying tears. "We were both being silly together, then."

Yuri smiled tentatively as well. "I suppose that makes us a matched pair."

"A silly pair of soulmates," Kenjirou quipped with a giggle. He laced their fingers together, returning Yuri's grip just as tightly. "Hey, Yura? Next time, make sure to tell me what you're thinking, okay? And I'll tell you what I'm thinking too."

Kenjirou's smile told him that sometimes, it was alright to be a little selfish.

"Okay."

* * *

As many had predicted, Yuri won the gold for that year's JGPF, finishing with a total score far ahead of any of the others'. The online figure skating community was abuzz for the rest of the week talking about the genius young Russian skater who had placed first for his junior debut. All eyes would definitely be on him for the upcoming European Championships and World Championships, some going so far as to calling him the next Victor Nikiforov. They even had a nickname for him, the 'Russian fairy', to which Yuri had wrinkled his nose rather disgruntledly and Kenjirou had giggled. Yuri had retaliated with a tickle attack for that.

Kenjirou delivered his best performance to date to snatch up the silver with a split hair margin of less than 2 points ahead of Otabek. They celebrated both that and Yuri's gold with Kenjirou's family at a restaurant in town, Kenjirou eagerly ordering a variety of his favourite dishes for Yuri to try. Japanese food was almost as good as pirozhki, he decided as he gamely sampled everything.

They go back to Kenjirou's home after that and spend the night playing video games until Kenjirou's father comes in to order the lights off. Still heady from the excitement of the day, they were hardly sleepy, and they end up whispering huddled under the covers for another hour before finally falling asleep. Neither of them notice Kenjirou's mother coming quietly into the room to tuck the covers more warmly around them, both of them dead to the world and dreaming of the ice.

* * *

They spend the whole day after the end of the JGPF at Uminonakamichi Seaside Park, renting a two-seater tandem bike to cycle around the park. They take silly selfies with the animals at the zoo, laughing as they uploaded the photos on their SNS accounts, tagging each other.

At lunchtime, they eat the bentos they'd cobbled together that morning, not caring that Kenjirou's slightly misshaped rice balls made an odd combination with the pirozhki Yuri had done his best to make using his grandpa's recipe (his dedushka made them much better, of course, so Kenjirou still had to come to Moscow one day to try the real thing).

It was too chilly to go into the water so they spend the rest of the afternoon running around the beach, laughingly drawing patterns in the sand. They catch a train back to the city afterwards, watching the city light slowly turn on as the sky darkened with the early winter sunset.

The Russian team had booked a late night flight back that night, and Kenjirou's parents drive them both to the airport after dinner. Kenjirou hugged Yuri before they entered the departure area, feeling the younger boy clutch back just as tightly.

"Tell your dedushka I said hi."

"I will." There was a pause where neither boy was willing to let go. "…I'll miss you."

"Me too," Kenjirou whispered back. He reluctantly stepped back when he heard Yakov calling for Yuri. "But… I'm going to do my best at the Nationals and the Worlds! So…" The light in his eyes turned determined. "I'll see you again at the World Junior Championships Final, Yura."

Yuri smiled right back, not doubting it for a second. "That's a promise."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary: Behind the scenes at the Sochi Grand Prix Final was one very annoyed Yuri Plisetsky.**

* * *

Yuri gritted his teeth.

Lacklustre step sequence, sloppy spins, control all over the place… What was this half-assed performance!?

"'The hell was that triple axel!? Isn't that supposed to be your best jump!?" Yuri burst out growling aloud, drawing strange looks from the other skaters sitting around the reserved area watching the men's singles free skate of the Grand Prix Final. He shot them all a poisonous glare that had them inching away, before snapping his gaze back down at the rink where Japan's Yuri Katsuki was picking himself up after his third fall.

Yuri had watched enough videos of the senior Japanese skater with Kenjirou to know that today's performance showed absolutely nothing of his real ability.

The Japanese Yuri perhaps didn't have a perfect control over his jumps and landings, but there was a quality to his step sequences that made one simply unable to tear their eyes away, a mesmerizing kind of inner grace. For every point that he lost on the technical side of things, he more than made up for in performance. He had the talent to tell a story with just his body, woven into every move and jump and spin, in those scant few minutes on the ice.

Kenjirou's favourite performance was Katsuki's Lohengrin short program, and they'd watched it so many times Yuri felt like he could probably recreate the whole routine himself on the ice without much trouble. The knight Lohengrin, sent to protect the Duchess of Brabant, with the condition that she never ask his name. They fall in love and marry, but unable to resist, she asks him the forbidden question. With great sadness, Lohengrin has no choice but to leave and part ways with his beloved wife. It's a story of deep regret and melancholy, carried by the soulful music and the skater's gentle motions that crescendo into an intense series of jumps and combination spins before fading back into a sorrowful step sequence at the end.

His flawless execution of the routine at the previous year's Japanese Nationals was arguably his best performance to date and had set his current personal best, and while he missed the podium in the World Championships because of a few slip-ups he still ranked fairly highly.

Yet today, the Japanese skater's movements were mechanical at best – stiff, distracted, and lacking any deep feeling. Yuri had watched the live broadcast of the free skate performance that had cinched the Japanese skater a gold at NHK Trophy and a confirmed place in the Final, but none of the elegance that had defined the program was present as he watched Katsuki skate in person for the first time.

"Ken's watching you from home, moron," he muttered under his breath. "No doubt he's staying up way past bedtime just to catch the live broadcast. You're not supposed to let him down, dammit."

(You weren't supposed to let _me_ down.)

Yuri took a final glance at where the Japanese representative was sitting morosely at the kiss and cry, before turning away and heading back down the stairs.

* * *

Yuri wasn't sure what made him follow when he saw the hunched figure of the Japanese skater enter the men's room. Standing outside, he could hear the sound of muffled sobs from the only closed cubicle. His fingers clenched into fists, bunching tightly around the fabric of his jacket.

The guy crashed and burned in his first Grand Prix Final, and now he was crying alone in a toilet stall? It pissed Yuri off. What had happened to the passionate skater who Kenjirou looked up to so much? Who Yuri had, albeit secretly, been striving to defeat all these years?

Before he knew it, he had delivered a powerful kick to the cubicle door.

The door opened shakily, bringing him face-to-face for the first time with the older skater.

And he was nothing like Yuri had pictured.

This person standing before him, with a runny nose and tear tracks down his face and swollen eyes red behind his glasses, had none of the grace he had shown to be more than capable of on the ice.

It filled Yuri with a stronger rage than he had ever felt before, and the words slipped out of his mouth before he could properly think it through.

"Hey. I'm competing in the senior division next year."

(Look at me. _Look_ at me, who's been watching your back for so long. You know nothing about that, don't you?)

"We don't need two Yuris in the same bracket."

(You have no right to be giving up before I defeat you. No. Fucking. Right.)

"Incompetents like you should just retire already."

(I refuse to accept anything other than your very best. And I will show you that I'm _better_.)

"MORON!"

(Aren't you going to say anything!? You're just going to let yourself get pushed around by someone almost ten years younger than you?)

But the Japanese skater just stood in stunned silence throughout Yuri's tirade, not speaking even as he stalked out of the toilet and back down the hallway to the main waiting area.

"Damn it!" Yuri paused halfway and kicked the wall viciously. What the hell was that!? "Stand up for yourself, bastard…"

Okay, so he'd probably been a little harsh. No one had ever called Yuri tactful, and it was times like this that brought out the worst of his temper and impulsiveness.

…Shit, Ken would be mad if he ever found out that Yuri had yelled at his idol that way, wouldn't he?

Frustrated, Yuri ran a hand through his hair. Well, what was done was done. He took a final glance down the empty hallway.

"You better get your act together by next season, idiot," he muttered. "I'll never forgive you if you don't."

* * *

 _ **Episode 12 basically turned my headcanons about that infamous first meeting between Yuuri and Yuri at the beginning of the series into canon material. I just love this series so much.**_

 _ **Long before Victor recognized Yuuri's talent, or even before Yuuri even realized it himself, both Kenjirou and Yuri had already acknowledged Yuuri as a skater and aimed to surpass him. Yuri is a just a tad bit more…zealous about it. XD**_

 _ **In this verse, a lot of it has to do with Kenjirou fanboying over Yuuri too much, hahaha. And that little green-eyed monster in Yura's heart wants Kenjirou to look only at him.**_


	6. Chapter 6

" _I'm the one who'll win at the Grand Prix Final! Tell him that!"_

Yet even with Yuri's fiery parting words, determination reigniting in his voice and eyes, Yuuko still felt a little concerned as she watched the boy walking away by himself down the empty streets of Hasetsu. There had been a defeated slump to his shoulders before she caught up to him, revealing that he was more affected by the day's events than he was willing to show. But she knew that trying to make him stay would do nothing.

The soft running patter of sneakers on the tiled pavement made her turn to look behind her, spotting a figure running up from the direction of the Ice Castle. The teenaged boy who slowed to a stop next to her was only vaguely familiar, not one of the residents of Hasetsu who she knew on sight. He smiled softly at her. "Thanks for caring about Yura, onee-san. Don't worry, I'll take things from here," the boy told her, a gentle smile in his brown eyes, before setting off in a run again to catch up with the blond.

She watched as Yuri started in surprise he reached him, pausing to gape at the other boy in surprise and clear recognition. The boy just smiled sunnily, catching Yuri's free hand in his.

Yuuko smiled. Yuri's back doesn't look lonely anymore, she thought as the two boys walked on side by side, hands still warmly linked. It was good to know that Yuri had at least one close friend who obviously cared greatly about him. Maybe they were even soulmates.

' _Yurio-kun's going to be okay'_ , she wrote on her hand to Takeshi as she turned to walk back towards the Ice Castle.

Still, there was a nagging feeling that she recognized the boy from somewhere, that bright smile and his eye-catching red and blond dyed hair. Yuuko blinked as it finally clicked in her mind, spinning back around abruptly despite knowing that the boys were long gone from sight.

"WAIT, WAS THAT MINAMI KENJIROU!?"

* * *

Yuri didn't need to stay for the announcement to know who Victor would choose as the winner of their impromptu face-off. His fingers tightened unconsciously, the plastic handle of his bag biting into his palm. The Katsudon might have over-rotated one of his jumps, but this had never truly been a competition about their technique. The older skater had poured his very soul into the music, and it had showed in how every move had drawn them in, captivated the audience. Today had marked the return… no, the rebirth of Katsuki Yuuri as a skater.

It had shown Yuri how far he still had to go.

The bridge was deserted as he walked along it towards the train station, the town beyond it quiet and sleepy in the evening glow. Everyone else was back at the ice rink, no doubt still cheering for the Katsudon.

Only Yuuko had noticed his silent departure, came out running after him with so much concern in her eyes at that it almost hurt. Truth be told, the older girl had reminded Yuri of Ken even since their first meeting. Not physically, so much, but in personality. The genuine warmth in chocolate brown eyes, the way she smiled without reservation, how brightly supportive she was… It had been comforting to meet her after coming to this foreign place so far away from home. A warm familiarity…

"Yura."

The voice came from his side almost as if summoned. Yuri jumped, jolted out of his thoughts by that familiar voice calling his name. He turned to see Kenjirou running up to him from behind.

He shouldn't even be surprised, really. Of course Kenjirou wouldn't miss a chance to watch the Katsudon skating live. _'Did you want him to have come just to watch you?'_ a bitingly honest voice in his mind asked. He quashed it relentlessly.

"You… you were watching."

Kenjirou reached out first as he always did, lacing their hands together.

"I was. You were amazing back there, Yura."

Yuri looked away instead of meeting that sweet smile, glancing over Kenjirou's shoulder at the sea washed red by the sunset. "It wasn't good enough."

Kenjirou hummed thoughtfully, his grip warm and comforting around Yuri's hand. "Well, that just means we'll have to continue practicing hard, right?" He smiled at him, unjudging and unconditional. Agape, Yuri's mind whispered. "To become better than we are now. And even better, beyond that."

Yuri returned his hold just as tightly as they walked on down the road together. "…Yeah."

* * *

They bought bentos at the station while waiting for the next train to arrive, eating dinner as the scenery sped by outside the window. The train pulled into Fukuoka shortly after 9pm, and they walk the rest of the way to Kenjirou's house.

Kenjirou's parents welcomed him warmly despite his impromptu arrival. Kenjirou's mother laughed away his awkward apology, telling him firmly that he was always welcome in their home at all times.

They laid out the spare bed in Kenjirou's room just like they always, lying side by side in the half-darkness close enough that they could feel each other's warmth.

Yuri's cheeks pinked as he caught Kenjirou staring. "W-What?"

The older boy's wide smile was clearly visible even in the dim light. "Hehe, I was just thinking that Yura is really cute."

Yuri buried his face in his pillow in response to that candid reply, red all the way up to his ears. "Argh, how do you say things like that so easily?" he mumbled, just about to self-combust from embarrassment.

Kenjirou laughed in reply, folding his hand over Yuri's in the space between them. "I'm just really happy to see you again."

"…Me too." His words were still half-muffled in cotton, but he knew that Kenjirou had heard them by the brief squeeze of his hand around his.

"Good night, Yura."

"Good night, Ken."

* * *

"MINAMI KENJIROU!"

Kenjirou blinked at the yelled response he received right at the main entrance to the Yu-topia onsen resort. Quickly overcome his surprise, he cheerfully signed the cards thrusted at him by the three identical girls, even squatting down to take a commemorative selfie with them.

A new voice broke into the triplets' enthusiastic raptures. "Axel, Lutz, Loop, what are you three up to this time-"

Kenjirou looked up, eyes widening. "Ah, you're the onee-san from that time!"

The brown-haired young woman looked back at him in surprise, before a kind smile spread across her face.

"Minami Kenjirou-kun, isn't it? I'm Nishigori Yuuko. Are you here to join the public viewing for the Grand Prix Final?"

He beamed. "Yes!"

* * *

Yuri scrolled through the pictures Kenjirou had sent him, bright grinning selfies with the triplets and Yuuko and the Katsuki parents. 'Public viewing at Yu-topia! We're cheering for you, Yura!' the message read with a barrage of emoticons. He huffed out a fond laugh. "So he went to Hasetsu after all."

He stretched and got out of bed, firm determination settling over him. It was the morning of the Grand Prix Final short program. The first of two days to show all the effort that he had put in these past months.

As he changed into his outfit, a flash of black caught his eye. His fingers traced lightly across the words that had been written on his chest in dark marker, right over his heart.

' _Юра,_ _Давай_ _!'_

The Cyrillic letters were in Kenjirou's usual messy scrawl and even more lopsided from the odd angle he must have written them from, making him smile. Such a simple message, but the sight of it filled Yuri with strength as he continued to get ready for the day.

Later, as he skated out onto the ice, Yuri placed his palm briefly over where the words were just faintly visible through the white fabric, before taking his starting position. Warmth seemed to radiate from where the words were, spreading through his whole body.

And when he started to skate, it was clear that he had found his true Agape.

* * *

 ** _Ken-kun's inner dialogue for the Barcelona GPF free skate: Ahh, I really want Yuuri-kun to win but I really want Yura to win too and Yura was so, so, so beautiful skating Agape yesterday but Yuuri-kun's free skate today was so amazing but Yuraaaa~ *cries*_**

 ** _*cries more during Allegro Appassionato*_**

 ** _(Basically Minami-kun representing the YOI fandom in canon, just like he has done since the beginning)_**

 **Translation note: Юра, _Давай_ _! – Yura, Davai!_**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Here we are at the final chapter / epilogue, set a couple of years post-canon! I hope you'll like it!**_

 _ **Warning: Contains some spoilers for episode 12**_

* * *

Kenjirou smiled to himself as he looked up at the screen showing the incoming flight arrival times. The next plane from St Petersburg was estimated to arrive in Vancouver International Airport in less than half an hour, and a large group of fans and reporters had gathered around the arrivals area, buzzing excitedly. Given the size of the crowd, temporary barricades had been set up around the exit to clear the path for the passengers leaving the baggage claim area.

It wasn't surprising that this particular flight arrival would draw an exceptionally large crowd, more so than any other flight in these past few days leading up to the 2018-19 Grand Prix. After all, it held some of the giants of the current-day figure skating scene – Victor Nikiforov, figure skating legend famous for his five-times consecutive World Championships golds; Yuri Katsuki, Japan's top skater and current reigning two-times World Champion, who had been training in St Petersburg for the past two years; Mila Babicheva, reigning World Champion in the ladies' singles division; and of course Yuri Plisetsky, record holder for youngest Grand Prix Final gold medallist and highest short program score, along with being last year's World Championships silver medallist. It was an impressive retinue, to say the least, and that wasn't even including the Russian team's finalists and former medallists in the pairs skating and ice dancing divisions.

Kenjirou stood a little behind the crowd, hands tucked warmly into the pockets of his hoodie. It was a black one with a picture of a majestic lion printed across the back, a present from Yura for his birthday that year, given to him when he had been in Moscow for the Rostelecom Cup along with a bag of delicious pirozhki from Grandpa Nikolai. It fit well, Yuri having considered Kenjirou's now taller frame when buying it.

A series of growth spurts over the past two years had put him at roughly 175cm, a situation that Kenjirou was very happy with. For one, he could see a lot better over the heads of the girls in front of him, he thought with an amused quirk of the lips, which was a fine improvement from what he had to deal with in a very similar scenario four years ago, waiting for Yuri at the airport just like today.

He'd struggled with his suddenly lengthened limbs at the beginning however, falling flat on his face more than once with the unfamiliar new centre of gravity. But after his growth had stabilized and Kenjirou had gotten used to it, he found that he now had a lot more strength and power in his jumps, the larger frame adding an interesting new dimension to his performances. Under Kanako-sensei's guidance, he replaced the quick, snappy step sequences that previously made use of his smaller body's speed and agility with sharp, dynamic movements that drew in the audience's attention better than ever before.

His height was hardly the only thing that was different now when comparing to his and Yuri's first meeting at Fukuoka Airport, though. While five years ago he had been a relative unknown in the scene, a young skater in the junior circuit, this time he was one of the six finalists for the Grand Prix Final, hanging around the international airport in the city where the Final was being held in two days. Kenjirou had tried to blend himself into the crowd with tinted glasses and by pulling up his hoodie to hide his distinctive hair, but well… he really should have expected the disguise to fail miserably.

"It's Kenjiro Minami!"

"Congratulations on qualifying for the Final!"

"Can I have your autograph?"

"OMG, he's cuter in person!"

"Are you here to wait for the Russian team and Yuri Katsuki's arrival?"

"Take a picture with me, please!"

"Good luck in the Final!"

"How do you feel about going against your own countryman and the reigning World Champion Yuri Katsuki in the Final?"

"You said that your theme for this season is 'admiration', who are your primary inspirations?"

"Are you a Yuri's Angel too?"

The last question was directed at the handmade placard he held in his hand, proclaiming 'YURA' in bold Cyrillic letters.

He grinned widely at the girl who had asked the question, setting off loud squeals from the surrounding fans. "I totally am!"

* * *

Yuri glanced at the words appearing on his arm, pushing back his sleeve of his hoodie to see them properly. He held out his hand to his companion seated next to him on the plane. "Mila, give me back my marker. And bring your own next time."

The older girl pouted but passed the water-based marker over anyway. "I _did_ , but I accidentally packed it into my check-in. So he's arrived already?"

"Yeah."

Mila sighed enviously. "That's so nice. Sara's only flying in tomorrow."

"Who are you talking about?" a voice came from the seat behind, a certain annoying old man popping up to drape his arms down over Yuri's shoulders. "Ohh, are we meeting Yurio's soulmate today?"

Yuri rolled his eyes, not deigning that with an answer as he continued to write out a reply to Kenjirou. Trust the king of terrible memory to have no idea.

"You've already met him, Vitya," Mila commented in his stead. "They used to hang out together all the time in Juniors."

"Hmm… Well, maybe I'll remember when I see them. Yurio, what does your soulmate look like?"

"Soulmate?" a sleepy voice asked with a muffled yawn.

Great, now the Katsudon had woken up too, after sleeping for pretty much the whole flight.

"Yuuri! Yurio's soulmate is meeting us at the airport!"

Stupid old man soulmates. Yuri drowned out the rest of their conversation by plugging in his earphones and turning up the volume.

* * *

Yuri's eyes darted around as he walked out of the airport arrivals area, looking for that tell-tale red and gold hair.

Ah, there he was, and pretty much being mobbed by fans and reporters alike too. Yuri let out a fondly exasperated sigh. The Russian team's arrival had thankfully distracted the crowd enough to give the Japanese skater a chance to finally step away, looking somewhat harried. He turned, his eyes instantly locking onto Yuri's.

Next to him, the Katsudon let out a sound of recognition. "Oh, it's Minami-kun-"

"YURA!"

Yuri was running even before Kenjirou called to him, dodging around all the reporters and fans almost by instinct to fly into his arms. He could hear cameras flashing everywhere around them and the crowd going crazy, but he hardly cared, not with Kenjirou holding him so warmly.

"Hehe, I'm taller than you now, Yura," Kenjirou whispered in his ear, leaning down that one inch of difference.

Yuri playfully elbowed him in the ribs as retaliation. "Just you wait, I'm going to catch up soon. My dedushka is _way_ taller than you, I'll definitely take after him!"

"You're wearing the hoodie I bought you," Kenjirou commented with a happy grin. Yuri's hoodie was a forest green pull-over with a tiger head print on the back and the Japanese kanji 虎for tiger stitched on the front. He'd loved it since the moment Kenjirou gave it to him.

Yuri grinned back, tucking his hands into the front pocket of Kenjirou's black lion-print hoodie. "You are too."

Kenjirou was smiling at him so beautifully, and before he knew it Yuri had blurted out the first thing on his mind. Being stuck with that idiot married couple all year round had clearly done terrible things to his rationality, but in that moment he didn't care.

"Can I kiss you?"

Kenjirou's eyes were so, so warm. "Yes."

And so Yuri did, right there in the middle of the crowded airport, because love wasn't something meant to be hidden.

* * *

 _ **Thank you to everyone who has supported this story till the end, I hope you've enjoyed the journey as much as I have! I really had a great time writing this adorable pairing! Please do take the time to leave a review and favourite if you enjoyed the story, your feedback is greatly appreciated!**_

 _ **Till next time!**_


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